This invention relates to carbon dioxide (CO2) and making beneficial use of carbon dioxide. This invention more specifically relates to using carbon dioxide in various phases, i.e., dense phase, liquid or solid phase carbon dioxide (dry ice), to generate carbon dioxide gas and direct the gas to plants which benefit from such application and which, through photosynthesis, converts carbon dioxide and water (H2O) to oxygen (O2) and sugar (glucose or C6H12O6) as per the equation 6CO2+6 H2O+sunlight→C6H12O6+6O2. For purposes of this disclosure, organisms which process carbon dioxide according to this formula are also referred to as photosynthetic organisms.
Global warming is a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (“GHG”) in the atmosphere. Among the primary greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorcarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Of these, carbon dioxide is the primary anthropogenic (i.e., manmade) GHG, accounting for a substantial portion of the human contribution to the greenhouse effect. Chemical reactions involving fossil fuels are the major source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Combustion occurring in mobile and stationary devices are the predominant contributors.
Reports in 2016 from NASA, the US EPA and the US Department of Energy state that 9 gigatons (that is 9 billion tons) of CO2 equivalents is annually added worldwide to the atmosphere by manmade processes. Much of the CO2 is from mobile sources such as fossil fuel combustion in aircraft, motor vehicles, and from stationary flue gas sources, such as coal fired power plants. It is further estimated that almost two thirds of the said 9 gigatons is produced in the US alone, and that the minimum amount of carbon dioxide required to be removed from the atmosphere simply to stop the advance of climate change is 4 gigatons per year.
There is an ongoing need for solutions to the continued disposition of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. One such solution is bio-sequestration of the substance into photosynthetic organisms. However, delivery of carbon dioxide to such organisms presents a number of technical and logistical challenges.